Adjustable movable knife for lump presses



Nov. y13, 1934. H P TAYLQR' 1,980,887

ADJUSTABLE MOVABLE KNIFE FOR LUMP` PRESSES FiledV Dec. 8, 1955 HENRY P 72h10@ gmc/whole Patented Nov. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES- lagons? PATEN T OFFICE ADJUSTABLE MOVABLE KNIFE FOR LUMIP PRESSES I'his invention relates to improvements to What is known as a lump forming machine used by tobacco manufacturers. Vter being processed, such as by sweetening, and

the like, and while in bulk form must be formed into lumps for the making of plugs and a quantity of the processed leaf tobacco is placed in these lump forming machines where pressure is applied within a confined 'chamber to form `the lump ready for the wrapper to be placed therearound. Of course after the wrapper is placed around the lump, they are placed in suitable presses for reducing to proper sizes of plugs or batches of plugs for packing in suitable containers for shipping tothe market.

Some types of these lump forming machines are designed for forming a quantity of leaf tobacco large enough to make two lumps and the vmovable head in the lump forming machine, in

these typesv of machines, has a fixed knife which, at. the same time the lump is formed, cuts the lump into two, parts, thus forming two lumps at a time. It has been the experience of manufacturers, heretofore, that in'using these types of lump forming machines, having the fixed knife therein, that operators will occasionally' cutting edge of the knife is forced against theA bottom of the lump forming chamber, thereby 'dulling or injuring the knife, as well as injuring the bottom of the compartment.

The types of lump forming machines which have a fixed knife in the movable head can only cut in two pieces a lump of a given thickness. Various brands of plug chewing tobacco each, as a rule, are of different thicknesses. It is, therefore, necessary to have different movable heads with different lengths or cutting depths of knives for each different thickness of lump Where a xed type of knife is used.

It is an object of this invention to provide a movable head with an adjustable movable knife. This knife, being adjustable as well as movable, eliminates the necessity of having a number of movable heads each with a different size Xed knife.

.It is another object of this invention to provide a knife in the movable head member of a lump forming machine which knife is resiliently mounted and which knife is Vautomatically withdrawn into the movable member ofthe lump forming machine so as to be out of the way of the hands of the operators in placing leaf tobacco therein and in removing the formed lumps therefrom. Y

It is a further object of this invention to pro-4 vide in a lump forming machine, a movable knife` in the movable head membervof the lump forming machine for cutting the formed lumpinto two pieces at the same time the lumpis formed,v said knife being automatically moved downwardly into cutting position as the vertically.4 movable lump forming member is moved down-` v/ardly to form the lump and whichknife automatically returns into a concealed positionjin the movable member of the lump forming ma-j chine as it returns to its uppermost position ready for taking therefrom the formedlump'and placing another batch of tobacco therein to be" formed into a lump. f

Some of the objects having been stated,4the details of the vinvention will appear more fullyv when taken in connection with the detailed description hereinafter following, when viewed in connection with thev accompanying drawing, in which:-

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a conventional movable head in a lump forming machine vand showing a portion of the lump forming machine in section with my invention attached to the movable head, but omitting the processed tobacco;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detailed sectional View taken along the line 2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a View4 similar to Figure 2, butv showing the action of the L-shaped member when the knife engages some hard substance in the tobacco which the blade will not cut;

Figure 4 is a vertical lsectional View takenV along the line 4-44 in Figure 1 but showing the movable head in its lowermost position, and` showing the conventional doors of the lump forming machine in closed position, the tobacco being omitted.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates the main frame of a conventional lump forming machine which has 'an upstanding movable member 11 which is reciprocated vertically during the lump forming operation. Y The lump forming machine has a compartment indicated by 12 whichhas a back' wall 13 and sidewalls 14 and l5 and a front door member 16 having a plurality of links 17, 18 and4 19 for operationv of the same-which links are automatically operated before the plunger starts' f The block 22 is secured in groove 24 in member 11 by means of a bolt 25. A movable plunger 26- has upper portion 27 which is penetrated byl bolt. 28 which engages a slot 29 in the member 22 for securing the plunger in position. The plunger 26 has a bottom portion 30 for engaging the batch of processed leaf. tobacco: andprojecting forwardly from the wall 26 is a lug 31 in which is slidably mounted a shaft 32 which has a collar. 33 thereon for confining one end of a compression spring 34. The lower end of the compression spring i's confined by the bottom por'- tion 3'0..

The bottom portion 30 has a transversely disposed slot therein in which is mounted a knife 35,. said. knife being fixed on the lower end of the shaft 32. In the uppermost position, as

shown in Figure 1, the spring 34 normally forces the shaft 32v upwardly and therefore, holds the knife in elevated position, so that it will not be engaged by the hand' of the operator when putting theprocessed leaf 'tobacco in the lump forming machine. The upper portion 27 of this movable plunger has downwardly projecting lugs 40 and 41 and in lug 4l is pivotally mounted, as at 4'2`,v a lever 43 which normally rests against the lower endof bolt 28. This lever. projects laterally outward through a slot in oney sidewall of the.

movable plunger 26 and has ay set screw 44 adjustably mounted on the end thereof. Secured. to the back wa1l`1`3` is a bolt 45 having acompression spring 4'6- mounted thereon and also loosely mounted on bolt 45 is'an L-shaped bracket 47 which is normally held in the position shown in Figure 2 by means of compression spring 46. On downward movement of the movable plunger 26 the' Set screw -44 engages the horizontally disposed portion of L-shaped member 47 and this retards lever 43V in its movement, and forces the left hand end of lever 43, as shown in Figure 1, against the upper end of shaft 32 which forces the knife 35 downwardly to cause it to penetrate the mass of tobacco and assume the position shown in Figure 4.

In order that there be some resiliency to this operation, the spring 46' is provided which pre'- ventsthe set screw 44 from hitting immovable obects and doing damage to the knife or, in case the knife should be adjusted so that its lower edge would hit against the bottoniy of the compartment, usually of copper or other soft metal', it would prevent injury to the knife even though the knife would hit the' bottom of the compartment but in actual operation I would vpreferv to adjust the set screw 44, so that the knife 35 willha'rdly engage the bottom of the compartment and will leave a small portion of the leaves of tobacco uncut which will enable the voperator to remove the severed lump from' the compartment, even-though only one portion of .will be removedon account of the uncut .portion between the two portions of the lump. 'I'his prevents the operator from having to make two operations of removing the severed lump from the lump forming machine.

It is evident that I have provided'an apparatus which may be readily attached to any lump forming machine and adjusted to the desired position. 'I'he knives in the lump forming machines,l heretofore used, have been rigidly secured to the plunger 26 and non-adjustably mounted with. relation tothe plunger; consequently, a large number of separate plungers with different knives had to be provided to cut each different thickness 0f lump; formed.. Thisrapparatus not only provides this adjustable feature, but the action of the L- shaped member 47, together with the spring 46, as shown in' Figure 3, when the knife 35 strikes an immovable object,` is a safety device which prevents damage to the knife and machine.

During normal operation, the L-shaped member 47 remains in the position shown in Figure 2 and it is onlyl when the knife 3 5- engages some immovable object that the L-shaped lmember gives way and assumes the position shown Figure 3.

In the drawing and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed",4

they are used in a generic anddescriptive sense only and not for purposesl of limitation,`the Scope` of the invention being set forth in the appendedv claims.

I claim: Y 1'. A lump forming machine for tobacco-and'l the like provided with `a framework having a come'.

partment for receiving processed leaf tobacco, a movable plungerfor applying pressure to the tofbacco. to form a lump, a knife mounted inthe plunger and projecting fromthe face thereof which contacts the tobacco, spring means for` forcing the knife away from the tobacco, and a lever mounted on the plunger and having a'porftion engaging the framework and another portion engaging the knife for moving the knifewith relation to the plunger into engagement with ther tobacco.

2. Av machine'for forming vlumps of tobacco comprising a compartment, a vertically movable' plunger, a knife mounted for vertical sliding I movement in the plunger, resilientv means. for normally forcing the knife upwardly to causekits" cutting edge to be retracted to appoint above the y lower surface ofthe plunger, andmeans operable upon downward movement of the plunger for moving the knife downwardly at a' rate faster."

than the rate of'travel of the plunger to force the knife ahead of the plunger to sever the lump of' tobacco as itis formed. n

3. In a machine forv forming lumps of' a vertically movable plunger, a knife mounted for vertical slidable movement with relation to theA plunger, resilient means for normally holding the tobacco I cutting edge of the knife above the ylower surfaceA of the plunger, and means operable upon kdownv ward movementof the plunger for Ymoving the knife at a faster rate of travel than the plunger to cause its cutting edge to occupy aplane below the surface of the plunger tov sever the lump o'i.I4

tobacco at the same time it is being formed'. y ,i

4. In a tobacco lump forming machine, a preps@ sure compartment, a plunger movable inv said. compartment, a knife in the plungerfor seven' ing the lumps as they are being formed, spring means for normally holding the knife in retractedr position with relation to the plunger, a" lever mounted in the plunger and having a portion for engaging the machine and another portion engaging the knife on downward travel of the plunger for moving the knife downwardly with relation to the plunger at a faster rate of travel than the plunger as the plunger is moved downwardly and means for adjusting the point to which the knife is moved in the downward travel of the plunger.

5. A machine for forming lumps of tobacco preliminary to their being pressed in batches comprising a movable plunger, means for moving the plunger` against the tobacco, a knife mounted for vertical sliding movement in the plunger, re-

- silient means for holding the knife in raised position with relation to the surface of the plunger which contacts the tobacco, a lever mounted in the plunger and operable by downward movement of the plunger for moving said knife to protruding position with relation to the lower surface of the plunger.

6. In a machine for forming leaves of processed tobacco into lumps, a compartment for re ceiving the processed tobacco, a vertically movable member for applying pressure to a batch of leaf tobacco placed in the compartment for forming the tobacco into a lump, a knife slidably mounted in the vertically movable member, resilient means normally moving the knife upwardly to a point where its lower cutting edge is lump and means normally out of contact with the knife and operable upon downward movement of the vertically movable member for engaging and forcing said knife downwardly to cut the lump of tobacco as the same is being formed.

7. In a lump forming machine for tobacco and the like having a compartment for receiving processed leaf tobacco, a movable plunger for applying pressure to the tobacco to form a lump, a knife mounted in the plunger and projecting from the face thereof which contacts the tobacco, means for resiliently forcing the knife awajT from the tobacco, means normally out of contact with the knife and operable upon downward movement of the plunger for moving the knife with relation to the plunger into engagement with the tobacco, and means for changing the length of stroke of the knife.

8. A machine for forming lumps of tobacco comprising a compartment, a vertically movable plunger, a knife slidably mounted in the plunger, resilient means for normally forcing the knife upwardly to cause its cutting edge to be retracted to a point above the lower surface of the plunger, means operable upon downward movement of the plunger for moving the knife downwardly at a rate faster than the rate of travel of the plunger to force the knife ahead of the plunger to sever the lump of tobacco as it is formed, and meansfor adjusting the length of stroke imparted to the knife.

9. In a machine for forming lumps of tobacco, a vertically movable plunger, a knife mounted for vertical slidable movement in the plunger, means for normally holding the cutting edge of the knife above the lower surface of the plunger, means normally out of contact with the knife and operable upon downward movement of the plunger for moving the knife to cause its cutting edge to occupy a plane below the surface of the plunger to sever the lump of tobacco at the same time it is being formed, and means for adjusting the length of stroke of the knife.

HENRY P. TAYLOR. 

